Taste of Greece in . . . Scranton?

One thing my college roommates and I never disagreed on was whether or not to crack open a new bottle of wine, always white wine, never red. However, once I graduated and moved home for the summer, I retured to life in the household of a Mamabear who loves her glass of wine, always red, never white.

So I got to thinking about a small dish I could make to help me really enjoy a glass of red wine. Frankly, I would turn into a addict if I started buying bottles of white wine for myself becuase no one at home drinks it but me.

A few nights ago, I was eating some green olives out of the jar, per usual, and I noticed that the slight bitterness of the olive didn't go so well with my glass of white wine. I poured a little sip of red wine and became instantly captivated with the perfect compliment that the merlot gave to the aftertaste of the olive.

I fished through my cabinet to see what kinds of ingredients I had lying around. I found a can of kidney beans, which I thought I might beable to use, I found some black olives, and I found a small can of capers. I began to place myself back a few summers to when I studied in Greece, back to where stores smelled of specialty wine and balsamic, and the natives loved olives ALMOST as much as me. I attempted to bring those memories into this kitchen and try to create something fantastic.

So, I started to open the cans I placed on the kitchen counter, drained them, and dumped them into a big bowl. I drizzled EVOO and a few dashes of balsamic.

And then I discovered a can of chickpeas.

Thanks to my good friend, and fellow food blogging junkie Molly Porth, , who brought the fried chickpea to life, I recalled how wrapped up I became in the chickpea after she shared her fried creation with our Food Writing Class.

So, after mixing in that can of chickpeas, I hit jackpot.

What I love about this dish is that the beans make it filling enough to eat as a meal, or serve as just a small appetizer, AND it's cheap and quick to make. It would have cost a total of 9 dollars to buy all of the ingredients, and takes under 5 minutes to toss together.

My dad put a few scoops on his plate with his london broil and ate it by itself. My mom and I opened a new bottle of Merlot, and paired the "dip" with Garlic Panetini Pita Chips. http://www.newyorkstyle.com/newyorkstylepanetini.php


Here's the recipe:
1 cup of chickpeas
1/4 cup of kidney beans
1/2 cup of sliced blackolives
1/2 cup of sliced green olives
1/4 cup of tinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
few dashes of balsamic
tablespoon of capers (drizzle in some of the caper juice as well).

I'm convinced that the special ingredient in this dish is the caper juice. It's a little salty, but really REALLY superb.

enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

This dish really is idiot proof. As you know I am still an amateur griller, but I'm convinced I'm on my way to becoming a grilling machine.

This grilled shrimp stuffed mushroom takes under 20 minutes to make - which makes me wonder if I could make a career out of TWENTY minute meals - TOPPING Rachel Ray's thirty minute recipes.

I bought a few large portobello mushrooms that looked like giant mushroom caps. Turn each over, cut out the stem, and slightly carve out the inside of the cap, making a little cup out of the mushroom. Turn the mushrooms over, so the top of the mushroom is facing upward. Lay however many you like on tinfoil, drizzle with EVOO, basil, salt and pepper. Place the tinfoil on the grill on medium and cook for about 7 minutes.

Then take a bunch of defrosted shrimp - again the amount depends on how many stuffed mushrooms you plan on serving. If you intend on just making the one, you really only need about 5 pieces of regular or large shrimp. Chop up that shrimp, drizzle some balsamic dressing for a slight marinade, and place it in a bowl with a few diced vadalia onions, along with a little garlic.



Place them in tinfoil with a little EVOO and throw it on the grill, allowing it to cook on medium to high heat for about 6 minutes.

After grilling, turn over the mushrooms, and place a cupped spoonful of the diced shrimp inside the little cup that you carved out of the mushroom. I drizzled some sweet balsamic dressing that I had in my refrigerator over the mushroom and threw it all on a bed of baby spinach to give the dish some color.


One of my favorite small dishes is a stuffed mushroom, whether it's stuffed with crab meat or vegetables or whatever. I've wanted to try it myself, but this type of "stuffed" mushroom doesn't take nearly as long, and looks remarkably similar to a restaurant's stuffed mushroom. It tastes incredibly sweet when you get a bite of the mushroom and the shrimp together. Grilled shrimp generally has a natural juciness to it, so pairing it with the marinade and the slight spices makes its flavor mind bogglingly wonderful.

You can also put it over pasta if you want to make a main meal instead of an appetizer or small dish out of it. If you're going to serve it to guests you have to serve it over something bright, because the shrimp and the dark mushroom will look drab, and who wants to eat something that doesn't look pretty.

Serve this hot or cold, either way it tastes incredible. If I can't mess this up, then no one can. Try it- it's easy I swear!

Parmesan Grilled Asparagus

One of my favorite sparks of summer is eating outside. With gorgeous outdoor evenings come an excuse to indulge in many of my favorite foods: salads, fish, veggies, and some chicken on the grill, just a few typical meals that we all usually like to enjoy outdoors.

This recipe for Parmesan Grilled Asparagus came to me for a few reasons. First, I love veggies- duh. Second, I had a few bundles of asparagus stalks in my refrigerator that looked entirely too enticing for me to allow to go bad.

I am some what of a rookie to the grill. This is partly because I am impatient and I tend to become antsy trying to learn something new. It's also partly because I'm scared of lighting our backyard on fire. Okay, it's MOSTLY because I'm scared of lighting our entire house on fire. I don't doubt my own intelligence, but I do sometimes question my common sense. (I read somewhere that lacking common sense is a sign of genius. True or not- I will always tell myself that it's the truth). My dad says that the grill is pretty basic, almost entirely self explanatory.

Can you see why I'd be scared.

This past Sunday, I faced my grilling phobias and produced some grilled asparagus that I can't seem to write about without my mouth watering for more.

Heres the gist: Take as many asparagus stalks as you like - 5, 15, 50 - whatever.
Spray some Pam on a large piece of tin foil, and then toss the asparagus a top the foil.
Slightly wrap the sides of the tin foil around the asparagus, leaving enough space so you can see the entire stalk.
Drizzle EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. (All to taste)
Place on the grill, in the tin foil, on medium heat. Cook for about 7 to 8 minutes. There is really no need to turn the asparagus while on the grill.




After about 7 minutes, the cheese will have crusted over the asparagus. You want to cook them so that when you bite into the spear, the raw crunch is gone, but not lost. It's an instant jolt of cheese and summer freshness. This is a fantastic, quick, and EASY, side to anything from grilled salmon, to grilled chicken, or even steak.

As for my time with the grill, my dad only had to rush out of the house once to remind me of the dangers of playing with a gas grill. I guess the flames got a little too high for his liking?